The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman has apologized for issuing a threat against Sarah Palin's new next-door neighbor, Joe McGinniss, in an editorial last week.

"If I had it to do over again, I would have left off the last sentence of the editorial," an editor's note read.

"I certainly did not mean to suggest that McGinniss would or should be the victim of violence. For that matter, I didn't mean to suggest the Palins would do such a thing," the paper said.

Last week, the paper was signing a different tune: "Alaska has a law that allows the use of deadly force in protection of life and property." It seemed to be a veiled threat against the journalist who had rented a house next door to Sarah Palin's family to pen a book about the former Alaska governor.

Editor's Note: While you don't see my name at the bottom of our editorials, I routinely write them, and I wrote the one that ran Saturday - the one about Joe McGinnis and the Palins' new fence.

In an effort to find a catchy ending, I was a bit too creative with the last paragraph. If I had it to do over again, I would have left off the last sentence of the editorial. It doesn't add to my point, which was that there is nothing particularly newsworthy about someone moving in next door nor about a new fence going up to protect the privacy of neighbors.

I certainly did not mean to suggest that McGinnis would or should be the victim of violence. For that matter, I didn't mean to suggest the Palins would do such a thing.

All of which points to the power of words. I misused them on Saturday. I'll try to have more respect for that power next time around.